“Food Con Castaways” is another fun and enjoyable little episode. And I have very little to say about it, so forgive the short review. The first thing I love about this episode are the characters. This episode really nails the chemistry and dynamics between the core four, and it is excellent to behold. I love the dynamic of all of them being on a road trip together, it’s fun and cute. Mr. Krabs acting like a tired dad to everyone is once again a source of my quasi-father-son relationship crumbs. And of course, because these four are a disaster together, their trip goes off the rails very quickly as Mr. Krabs somehow drives off a cliff.
Another thing I like about this episode is the plot. Specifically, the existence of Food Con. That’s brilliant, and it makes the world of Bikini Bottom feel more…whimsical. Like, it makes it the kind of place I’d wanna be living in, even more than I usually feel, because I want to attend a Food Con. Anyway, the plot of the Krew (+ Patrick) getting stranded out in the middle of nowhere is fun too. Plenty of great backgrounds in this segment as well. Additionally, when the episode starts getting super dramatic about the last patty, well y’all know how I feel about drama. I adore it. And SpongeBob being the only one loyal to the sandwich is so very in-character. This reminds me of “Pizza Delivery”. And before it gets to that point, we get a pretty entertaining action sequence of the patty getting stolen by a flying snail creature. Or, speaking of episodes that this one reminds me of, this is really similar to “Pineapple Fever”. And then the reveal at the end that SpongeBob gave the judge a nature patty, while Patrick eats the real one, was well done, because that’s an expectation subversion right there.
Lastly, this episode is also just funny. There’s some great dialogue humor in the set-up portion of the episode, and as the minutes go on, there’s plenty of great visual gags and other types of jokes too. Like I loved the bit with the horns (which was wonderfully brought back at the very end). Or everyone’s attempts to get SpongeBob to relinquish control of the patty, those were pretty great too. Or when SpongeBob starts hallucinating the patty talking to him, lol.
Episode Tier: Amazing
Episode Score: 9/10
